Oren Smith

Edit 0 16 …
Unknown. "Twain, Mark, 1835-1910." ProQuest Biographies. 2006: n.p. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 02 Dec 2010.
  1. Mark Twain helped people accept the idea of local color
  2. Twain observed that Americans are not too aware of other cultures
  3. He published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn right after the rise of the KKK
  4. He wrote Huckleberry Finn to draw on a racial and social context in the South
  5. Mark Twain attacked racism in Huckleberry Finn
  6. Huckleberry Finn is seen as the "Incarnation of America"
  7. He wrote Huckleberry Finn to display the positive and negative elements in the United States
  8. The novel brings in "broader insights about southern culture"
  9. Twain was criticized for his attitude toward slavery
  10. This was because he displayed the slave in Huckleberry Finn as an idiot
  11. People said Twain was stereotyping slaves
  12. Twain would use the "N word" several times throughout the novel
  13. Critics argued that Twain was simply trying to capture the language of the time
  14. The novel is scrutinized for it's attitude towards slavery
  15. Twain is praised for finding a distinctive American voice
  16. The book displays independence and freedom
  17. In 1906 Twain saw no hope for the human race
  18. Avid critic of American Society
  19. He attacked the actions of nations in Africa, China and the Philippines
  20. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is usually seen as a "portrait of the New World"


The Mark Twain House. 2004 themarktwainhouse.org. 3 Dec. 2010 <http://web.archive.org/web/20061016074753/http:www.marktwainhouse.org/theman/bio.shtml>.


  1. "Twain watched a young United States evolve from a nation torn apart by internal conflicts to one of international power"
  2. He experienced the country's growth and change
  3. Twain displayed the poor treatment of slaves in his time in some of his novels
  4. Twain's writings "questioned the humanity of the human race"
  5. His father owned a slave
  6. His uncle owned several slaves
  7. Played in the slave quarters as a child at his father's farm
  8. This is when he realized what slavery was
  9. Wrote about real life encounters with African Americans in Roughing It
  10. In later years, his writings became dark
  11. Railed against failures of reconstruction in Huckleberry Finn
  12. Railed against the treatment of African-Americans in Huckleberry Finn
  13. In 1873 his focus turned toward social criticism
  14. Co-wrote a novel that attacked political corruption
  15. Wrote The Prince and the Pauper and criticized oppression
  16. Major Books- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  17. Most of these books attack something like racism or class relations
  18. Started writing at age 12 after his father died
  19. The Boer War in South Africa fueled his anger towards imperialistic countries
  20. With the Spanish-American and Philippine War in 1898‚ his anger was directed toward the American Government


Sacks, Sam. "Restoring the Man in White." Commentary (Vol. 129, No. 4). April 2010: 73-76. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 07 Dec 2010.


  1. Was 33 when he wrote his first full length story
  2. His first book was about foreign twins
  3. Displayed "as an object lesson in America's progress from a dreaming, free-spirited young republic to a stifled and disillusioned plutocracy"
  4. Wrote as many as 100,000 letters
  5. One of the country's favorite writers
  6. Humor was Twain's "shield" against the world's absurdities
  7. Wrote for three days straight including Christmas day about his daughters death
  8. Some people hated him and some people loved him
  9. Ernest Hemingway said that "all of American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn
  10. Most people that haven't read any of his books know about them
  11. Although his daughter and wife died, he continued to still write
  12. Some guy was writing a biography on Twain before he die
  13. ^ That's how important he was
  14. Some movies extracted material from some of his books
  15. He once drew close distinctions between comedy, and smarts
  16. His comic fiction depended less on jokes and more on situation and character
  17. Mark Twain can be seen as a poet or a country boy
  18. Arguably the greatest writer of all time
  19. People argued that Twain was rascist
  20. Would often write scenes in his books using comedy


Blount Jr., Roy. "Mark Twain: Our Original Superstar." Web. 7 Dec. 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1820166-1,00.html>.

  1. Twain was anti-slavery
  2. Twain was for pro-equality
  3. Conversations between Huck Finn and other characters show Twain's pro-equality
  4. Twain wrote 28 books
  5. Also wrote over 20 short stories
  6. He "skewerd" the powerful
  7. His target was human folly and hypocrisy
  8. He was said to have come from America's Heart
  9. Twain's real name is Samuel Clemens
  10. TwaBin was a river man's term meaning 12 feet
  11. Came to national attention in 1865
  12. Became famous with the short story: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
  13. He was the "Nation's first rock-star"
  14. Got money for writing a book called The Innocents abroad
  15. This was the first book he got money for
  16. Critic of the Gilded Age
  17. In the 1890's he established his "celebrity" in Europe
  18. The Spanish- American war influenced Twain to write more
  19. Once called Roosevelt "The Tom Sawyer of the political world of the 20th centuryw
  20. He was referred to as merely a humorist with his early writings